News Archive
Five from IU McKinney Law Named to IU Indianapolis Elite 50
04/02/2025
Five students from IU McKinney Law have been named to the Indiana University Indianapolis Elite 50. The program honors exceptional graduate and professional students. The students are Sophia Caldwell, Caitlyn Fields, Bryce Hull, Sebastian Madrid, and Amiya Reina.
Each year, IU Indianapolis honors 50 graduate and professional students who demonstrate excellence beyond the classroom—in areas such as campus leadership, scholarly work, and community engagement. These IU Indianapolis Elite 50 represent the best of the best among IU Indianapolis’s graduate and professional students and capture everything that makes IU Indianapolis exceptional.
The IU McKinney Law honorees are:
Sophia Caldwell began law school as an ICLEO Fellow and interned for Judge Nancy Vaidik at the Indiana Court of Appeals during her 1L summer. Caldwell later helped organize the 11th annual Diversity Dinner at McKinney as the Diversity Dinner chair for the Black Law Students Association. She worked as a guardian ad litem and Court-Appointed Special Advocate through the Child Advocacy Clinic. She also volunteers with the Indianapolis Junior League, supporting youth in foster and kinship care. Currently, Caldwell is the president of the American Constitution Society at McKinney, the seminar chair for the Indianapolis Bar Student Executive Board, and part of the Willem C. VIS International Commercial Arbitration Moot team.
Caitlyn Fields is a 3L at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law from Valparaiso, Indiana. She is the executive symposium editor of the Indiana Law Review and a member of the Order of the Barristers for the Staton Moot Court Competition. Her other law school involvements include Women's Caucus, Health Law Society, Phi Delta Phi, and the Dean's Tutorial Society. She has participated in pro bono projects with the American Red Cross and the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention x IndyBar partnership. In February of 2025, Fields and her teammates represented McKinney at the National Appellate Advocacy Competition hosted by the ABA. Upon graduating in May of 2025, she will join the Litigation Department at Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis.
Bryce Hull served as the marketing chair for the Tax Law Society. Hull is a note candidate for Indiana Law Review and will be the executive managing editor during the 2025-2026 academic year. He also participated in the Staton Moot Court Competition in fall 2025 and was admitted to the Order of the Barristers. Hull participated in the National Tax Moot Court Competition, and the team placed in third for their oral argument. Hull will serve as the associate justice of scorekeeping for the Staton Competition in fall 2025.
Sebastian Madrid served as acting president of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society. Madrid has worked as a certified legal intern defending indigent criminal defendants with the Marion County public defender’s office. He also has worked as an extern in the NCAA enforcement department, as a legal intern for the Horizon League, and in the IUI athletic compliance department. Madrid served as the IndyBar's SEL division student liaison for the state of Indiana.
Amiya Reina says her most impactful law school involvement has been with the Re-Entry Assistance and Community Help (REACH) Clinic, where she serves as a Teaching Assistant. In this role, Reina supports law students assisting individuals recently released from federal incarceration, helping navigate barriers to re-entry. Her work with the clinic reflects her deep commitment to criminal justice reform and providing legal support to underserved communities. Beyond the REACH Clinic, she is an Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity (ICLEO) Fellow, a mentor in the Pathways to Law Program, and a representative for Themis Bar Review. She is also a member of the Black Law Students Association and was honored as the 2024 Student Champion of Diversity for her dedication to equity and inclusion in the legal profession. She has gained significant legal experience as a certified legal intern at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. She previously interned with the Honorable Leanna K. Weissmann, J.D. ’94, at the Indiana Court of Appeals as well as at Flood Family Law, LLC. She has also contributed to community outreach through the IU Office of the Vice President & General Counsel’s Wills and Advanced Directives Clinic.
